I only have one head. I only have one life so there’s nothing really to joke about. I’ve always slid head first but I’ve made some pretty good strides in sliding feet first. Sometimes it’s hard to think on the run.

(I thought about titling this post “Breaking: Kris Bryant admits ‘I only have one life’ but decided to wait until noon to be a doofus on the internet if possible.)

No longer sliding head-first seems like a tough thing to simply decide to change, because as Bryant points out it’s based on repetition and instincts on some level, so we’ll see how he fares.

At the plate Bryant has sunk into a prolonged slump, hitting just .149 with two homers and a .564 OPS in 25 games since his two-homer, six-RBI game against the Marlins on July 4. Of course, even with that slump dragging down Bryant’s overall numbers his .791 OPS is damn good for a 23-year-old rookie.

Clayton Richard tossed six innings of one-run ball in a win over the Padres on Sunday, but he was designated for assignment by the Cubs today for the second time in the past two weeks.

While it’s some tough luck for Richard, the Cubs don’t have a spot for him in their starting rotation after acquiring Dan Haren from the Marlins before the trade deadline last Friday. Chicago has been going with a short bench in recent days, so outfielder Matt Szczur was called up from Triple-A Iowa to take his place on the active roster.

Richard, 31, has a 4.29 ERA and 9/5 K/BB ratio in 21 innings over three starts and one relief appearance this season. The southpaw passed through waivers unclaimed after being designated for assignment in July and the Cubs are surely hoping to keep him around as depth once again.

Cubs rookie third baseman Kris Bryant was forced to exit Sunday’s game against the Brewers after feeling dizzy on a hard slide into second base, but he’s back in the starting lineup for tonight’s series opener against the Pirates.

According to Patrick Mooney of CSNChicago.com, Bryant was cleared to play after the Cubs ruled him out for a concussion. The 23-year-old hopes to avoid a similar issue in the future, so he’s planning to give up on sliding head-first. Obviously it’s easy to get caught up in the moment in a competitive situation, but that’s generally a good idea.

Bryant is coming off a rough July where he batted just .168 with a .638 OPS. He’s batting .246/.354/.436 with 14 home runs and 61 RBI over 96 games on the year.